Chapter 14 - The Haunting

Camryn woke up the next morning, feeling so blessed to have the chance to be a part of this illustrious family!  Yoshi and her parents were directly responsible for lifting many of the restrictions that had been imposed on them during the Zombie Apocalypse!

"Good morning, Mama," she said, greeting her with a kiss against Yoshi's cheek.

"Let me just get this place cleaned up!" She grabbed the dirty dishes from the table and started straightening the kitchen as Yoshi just watched her in confused silence.

Who the heck is she? Yoshi wondered. And where did she come from? 

Camryn didn't know a lot of recipes, but she did know how to make macaroni! (Macaroni as a meal choice is a clear sign of how late they all slept in!)

It was hard to screw up macaroni from a box, so she hoped she made a good impression.

Immediately, the conversation turned to babies.  Camryn might be trying a little bit too hard here.

"Babies?!" Yoshi asked, glancing between Xerxes and Camryn.  Her face softened, "Your father would've been so happy!"

 Wasabi woke up late and threw on her bathrobe.

She grabbed the paper and made a face when she saw an article Xerxes wrote about Andres Legende and the great Zombie Peace Treaty.  "Xerxes, Xerxes, Xerxes," she muttered under her breath sourly. 

She could make a difference, too! she thought.

Outside, she mopped up the dog puddles and tried to ignore all the holes in the ground, the massive junk pile in the corner of the yard and the million broken fridges scattered around their yard.

What she wouldn't give to be able to move out and live her own life!

She was so lost in her own misery and self-wallowing, she didn't see the handsome man approach.

 "Hey, a pretty girl like you shouldn't be so sad!" he told her. 

Wasabi blushed.

One thing led to another.

And soon the couple was flirting heavily in the front yard, in view of all the neighbors.  Wasabi didn't care, though.  She hoped someone told Clarence what he had missed out on!

Oh what a fickle, fickle town.  Yoshi made one tiny mistake at work and got demoted to Level 1.  Slap in the face after all her hard work!

Inside, Andres and Camryn caught up.  She had known him in his "pre-Zombie"  days.  It had always made her sad to think about him wandering around and eating people's brains.

"Whoa!" Jason said, staving Wasabi off as she tried to shove her tongue down his throat. 

Wasabi wailed and stomped her foot. "But I LOVE you!" she complained.  Why was everyone always pushing her away?  Was she not a good kisser?! This was giving her a complex!

"So can Zombies eat regular people food?" she asked, curious how about all the ins and outs of being a Zombie.  Too bad Zombies were a turn off for her, because otherwise, she might be tempted.

Outside, Camryn was still trying to make sure Yoshi liked her.  It seemed to be having the opposite effect when she all but cornered her future motherinlaw by the side of the house.

Yoshi was saved when a good friend of Camyn's walked by and greeted her. 

 "So what's it like living here?" Brittany asked, in awe.

"You just don't even know!" Camyrn sighed, then smiled enthusiastically.  "It is amazing! Everyone loves me! Xerxes and I are going to get married and have children and live happily ever after!"

Brittany sighed wistfully. "How romantic!"

It was quite obvious to most people in the room when Wasabi slipped from the room and Jason followed along after her.

 A clear sign of relationship troubles is that if the guy doesn't want to make out with you..

But is completely willing to woo hoo.

Camryn was so embarrassed she burned the macaroni. It was the simplest dish to make! How could she screw it up?!

 She felt her belly pop. The first sign of pregnancy, outside of morning sickness.

She sent a wistful smile in Xerxes direction, which he completely overlooked.

Ah, morning sickness. The first sign of impending pregnancy!

And Wasabit had picked a real winner!

 Xerxes had a strange feeling that his Mom and his newly pregnant girlfriend were talking about him.

 It was decided that Camryn would stay home and raise their child while Xerxes supported them.

Wasabi headed into work. She hoped she brought a handsome coworker home!  

The house was quiet.  Camryn worked on helping Barx learn to 'Come Here', the first command the pup would need to master for a promotion. 

 "Have a great day at work!" Camryn called as Xerxes headed out.

 Then she went straight to sleep.  Being pregnant made her exhausted and hungry all the time!

Siblings arrived home at roughly the same time.

"You're looking pretty rough, sis," Xerxes told her.

Wasabi sneered at her brother.  "Well thanks!" she snapped. "Your face is ugly too!"  Then she turned on her heel and stormed in.

"Whoa!" Xerxes whistled at her over-reaction. "What crawled up her butt and died?"

"Crap!" she thought at the first belly pop.

 "Xerxes, I was hoping we could talk about something important," Camryn said, grabbing his hand as he started to walk past. 

"Sure, what is it, hun?" he asked with an indulgent smile.

 She seemed to pass out mid-sentence.

"Camyrn?" he asked, concerned.

Camryn shook herself awake and blinked rapidly a few times.  She was just so exhausted.  But she wanted to get through this awkward conversation.

 "I don't want our baby to be born out of wedlock and since you haven't proposed yet, I thought I would do it!"  She dropped to her knee, held out a ring and asked from the bottom of her heart.  "Will you marry me Xerxes?"

Xerxes froze, a million thoughts flowly through his mind at once.  His first thought was, but I don't love her, followed quickly by, but she's having my baby.  And there Camryn was, pregnant and down on one knee with a hopeful look in her eyes. 

"Yes!" he said, allowing her to slip the ring on his finger.  "I'd love to marry you!"

"Oh thank plumbbob!" she said with a nervous laugh. "I thought you were going to say no for a second!  Here, help me up!" she said, holding her hand out to him.  "I'm so exhausted. I'm heading to bed."

Yoshi went outside to check on Barx.  "Weren't you supposed to be somewhere today?" she asked absently as she petted his little head.

 "It's so exciting that we're going to have babies together!" Camryn gushed to her almost-sister-in-law. 

"Look, this isn't exactly a planned pregnancy and I'm not thrilled about it. So let's lay off the baby talk," Wasabi snapped.  There went her dreams of being a bad-ass politician and all the public adoration!

 Upstairs, Wasabi took a leisurely bath. 

Then donned her maternity clothes.  Yeah, they looked dorky, but they were hella comfortable, so sue her!

 Xerxes practiced his fiddle playing.

"I'M SO HUNGRY!" Camryn raged from the bathroom.

 Trying to be a good partner, Xerxes dropped the fiddle and ran to the kitchen to get his pregnant fiance some food.

 "How are you feeling today, babe?" he asked.

That about sums it up in a nutshell.

Wasabi greeted her political rival later that night.  She didn't care that she was in her pajamas. They were comfortable and she was pregnant.  So sue her!

He shook her hand.  "I heard you were pregnant," he told her.  "So sorry to hear that you'll be dropping out of the race."

 "Whoa, I don't know where you heard that! Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean my brain doesn't work.  Or are you the kind of guy that thinks a woman should be kept at home, barefoot and pregnant?! I wonder how people will feel when they hear that!"

 "What? You're putting words in my mouth! I just thought you'd be taking maternity leave!" Joe said defensively.

"Well you were wrong! So don't think just because I'm pregnant that I can't do my job!"

Joe wisely decided to leave before their conversation could escalate.  He'd never met a more frustrating woman in his life!

Xerxes knew Camryn would be having their baby soon and he kept hoping to find that piece that was holding him back from making her his wife.  He desperately tried making out, smooching... anything and everything that he could think of. 

But baby had other plans.

 Welcome to the family little Vito Lee!

Camryn was disappointed that Xerxes hadn't officially married her before she had their son, but she consoled herself with the fact that they were pretty much commonlaw married. Just because he hadn't put the ring on her finger didn't make them any less of a family.

Oh who was she kidding.  She really wanted him to marry her!

"Move it! Other people need to use the fridge, you know!" Wasabi snapped when she tried to get some leftovers.

Camryn sighed and headed to put Vito in his crib.  She felt horribly guilty about putting her newborn in a box, but Wasabi had vehemently claimed the other crib, even though she hadn't even had her baby yet. 

Heck, Wasabi had even claimed the master bedroom upstairs saying that needed more space now that she was pregnant!

 "Hold the carpool!" Wasabi shouted, walking as fast as she could to catch up with her brother.  "She wasn't staying home and losing her job! No sir! She wouldn't give her rival, Joe, the satisfaction!

Wasabi snapped at her underling that had trailed her home.  "No, I told you that I would hold a conference after the baby was born. Why would I do it before? Do I LOOK like I want to talk to people right now?" she demanded angrily.

"Sorry Miss Sharp!" Ben stuttered, truly terrified of her.
"I'll get it fixed right away!" he said, quickly leaving before she could throw more verbal abuse on his head.  Oh why hadn't he gone to work for Joe Carr?

Xerxes brought home his coworker to discuss articles.  He really wanted to get out to the Septic Tank Science Facility, but fate had other plans.

  Goodbye sweet Yoshi! 

The family buried her next to Orlando.  

It was the middle of the night when Wasabi felt the pregnancy pains.  For a brief moment, she wished she wasn't alone, that she had Jason or Clarence or someone that loved her helping her.

But she didn't. So there was no use crying over it.  She welcomed a little girl, Vivi Sharp, into the world.

There would be no maternity leave.  Wasabi hurried to catch her carpool.  Her brother's eager-to-please girlfriend could watch the girl just as well as she could.

Camryn sped through the house, cleaning and unclogging toilets in between caring for the two newborns.  It was exhausting!

 She was so stressed when Xerxes brought home another coworker.  He didn't even warn her so she could change into something nicer.  Thankfully, he made dinner, teasing her that she could burn water.

 "Peter, it's so nice that you could come home with Xerxes. What article are you guys working on?"

"Um, you tell her Xerx," Peter said distractedly.  Xerx's sister was hot in that bathrobe!

Unfortunately, then she opened her mouth and Peter was wholly unimpressed.  She was so bitter!  She'd made a crack about his wedding ring and smirked at him knowingly.  "That's why I'm never getting married!" she told him.  "The whole institution is fixed to keep women down."

"Hmph! My wife wouldn't agree with you!" he told her.

"Sure, and how many kids does she have?" Wasabi asked.  "And is she anywhere close to meeting her Lifetime Wish?"

Peter frowned.  "Thanks for dinner, Xerx. I don't need this aggravation, I'm headed home."

 Xerxes sighed and grabbed up the dishes.  "Why'd you have to go so hard on him?" he asked.  "Peter is a good guy."

Wasabi snorted.  "I'm just saying what I think!"

The next morning, after an incredibly sleepless night, Wasabi waylaid her brother and made a proposal.

"I will trade rooms with you if Camryn watches Vivi. I can't go on without sleep!"

"Wait, you want us to raise your daughter?" Xerxes asked in shock.

Wasabi waved her hand. "Not forever! Just until she's a child!" she paused, "Come on Xerxes! Think about it! You can have the upstairs bedroom!"

Xerxes agreed immediately.  He was so eager to get out of the haunted bedroom!  Sucker, he thought with a chuckle.

Sucker! Wasabi thought with a grin.

Camryn wished Xerxes would've spoken with her before agreeing to trade bedrooms with her caring for both babies.

She supposed it was easier when both the babies were in the same room together, though.  There was no more running upstairs to change a diaper and then back downstairs to put Vito in his crib.

She'd just started to play the fiddle, when she had a feeling something bad had happened.

Aw, poor Pepper.  We loved you!

 It was so refreshing not having to worry about befriends Zombies. Xerxes spent the afternoon interviewing Jill for the paper.  He was thinking about doing a Sim Said/Zombie Said article.

Jill quickly excused herself.  Xerxes brains were starting to look too tempting.  She obviously needed to get home and drink some Instameal Brains!

It was Wasabi's first night in the haunted room and the first thing she did was slap some paint on the walls. That ugly orange paint had to go! 

Xerxes had argued that they were still working on the exterior siding, but she'd counter-argued that they could wait a few lousy days.  It's not like the siding would be done anytime soon.  He'd conceded her point.

 The smell of burned tv dinner quickly spread throughout the downstairs level.

 Camryn tried to rush, quicly pulling little Vito out of the crib and kissing his forehead.  "I'll be right back. Have fun playing," she told him.

 "Don't burn, don't burn, don't burn!" she chanted while she hurried down the ladder.

 Her dinner had burned, but at least it hadn't caught fire!

 Awwww, Vito grabbed Barx and squeezed the puppy in a powerful hug.

 Wondering what would have led Wasabi to sleeping in her old bed, I checked downstairs.

 Ah, the explains it.

 The haunting.

"Please dear plumbbob," Camryn begged.  "Please let me just feed Vivi and get back upstairs to safety without dying!"

Success. Everyone lives to see another day!

 "This place is really turning into a pigsty!" Xerxes complained.  "Bottles all over the floor, dirty dishes stacking up!"

Camryn glared at him. "Don't look at me! I have my hands full taking care of the babies!"

Wasabi just ate her breakfast.

 "Why haven't I heard from you?" Wasabi demanded angrily when she saw Clarence passing by her front door.

 "I'd heard you had a baby with someone else. I thought we were done," he replied sadly.

 "Aw, baby, that was just a silly mistake.  There's no one in my life right now," she flirted.

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

 She kissed her way up his arm, trying to worm her way back into his heart.

Clarence pushed her away.  "How about some roses and dinner first!" he complained.  "Stop trying to get into my pants!"

"Ugh, go home Clarence!" she angrily sent him away.

Being a stay at home mother, it was important to her that she teach Vito all the skills he needed to live a happy, healthy life.

 So after a potty training exercise, she sat down with him and started teaching him to talk.

 Oh no. The ghosts are upstairs!